Instructions

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SOLDERING INSTRUCTIONS

These pages contain soldering instructions for adding a connector wire.

We hope you find this helpful and, if you have any great tips, let us know as your comments are always welcome.

Instructions with diagrams available by email.

El wire consists of a center wire coated with powdery white phosphor, flanked by two or a single fine radial wire (outer conductor wires) all surrounded by an external vinyl coating and in the case of 5mm EL there is a second coating.

To solder a connector or lead wire onto your El wire:

1. Using wire strippers, remove about a half-inch of the vinyl coating off the end of your piece of El Wire. Take care not to accidentally remove the outer conductor wires.

2. Find the outer conductor wires (they are very thin and silver) and pull them back towards the vinyl coating.

3. Place a large shrink tube over the wire and push it to one side as you will use this later.

4. Scrape the phosphor off of the centre wire, exposing the metal. For this you can use wire strippers, or a craft knife.

5. Take the lead wire or connector wire and strip to expose around a quarter inch. Tin both ends of the pigtail with a little solder. (By “tin” we mean, apply the wire to the soldering iron, and apply the solder until the solder liquefies and lightly coats the wire.)

6. Hold your black-lock connector smooth side down and select the left tail of the lead wire and slip a narrow segment of heat shrink over it and slide it down out of the way.
7. Solder the left tail of the lead wire to the Inner conductor wire of your EL cable.

8. Slide the narrow heat shrink over your join and heat to insulate.

9. Solder the right tail of the connector wire to the fine hair like wires of your EL cable.
10. At this point, double check your insulation to ensure there are no exposed areas and check your connection by powering up your EL. It is a good idea to give it a bit of a wiggle to ensure a firm connection. WARNING: Do not touch the exposed connection. If all is OK, slide the wide shrink tube over the whole join and heat to shrink.

11. Seal the end of your EL wire with an end cap or a segment of shrink tube.

Finished

This is a basic method. There are many variations used by different EL enthusiasts but important points to remember are:

Strip slowly or you will find yourself chipping away looking for the outer conductor wires
Go easy on the solder so it does not get bulky
Check your connection for exposure and a firm hold before the final seal.
You can also try using sticky copper tape. After step 8, wind a small amount of copper tape over the top of the shrink tube but leave a flap unstuck then, lay your hair wires across it and wrap it in the remaining flap of copper. Weld your lead wire to the copper then seal the whole thing. This technique makes for a strong weld but all steps must be done swiftly and accurately to avoid melting the heat shrink and exposing your first weld. Use minimal amounts of solder to keep the join tidy looking.

Elec2go offers these instructions as guidance only and advises that you seek the advise of a professional electrical expert before handling electrical equipment particularly uninsulated electrical connections. Elec2go cannot be held liable for any personal injury arising from customers attempting their own connections.

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